X-Industry

Several days ago, our friends at FortiGuard Labs shared a valuable check list considering the current Ukrainian crisis.  We would like to share with our readers and thank Fortinet.   With Russian military operations currently underway in Ukraine, the question of whether cyber warfare will also be employed remains unanswered.  While researchers have seen cases of destructive cyber actions focused on Ukraine, at this point specific attribution is not possible. 

As a result of these actions, there

There is an English ballad which was first published in the 1640’s titled, The World Turned Upside Down.  Many believe the current international geo-political atmosphere meets this time aged ballad.  The US has publicly accused Russia of being responsible for last week’s cyber-attacks targeting Ukraine’s defense ministry and major banks.  Now some experts believe Russia could escalate malicious cyber activity and conduct sophisticated cyber-attacks on the West too.  If this occurs, the attacks w

The European Central Bank is preparing banks for a possible Russian-sponsored cyber-attack as tensions with Ukraine mount as the region braces for the financial fallout of any conflict.  The stand-off between Russia and Ukraine has rattled Europe's political and business leaders, who fear an invasion that would inflict damage on the entire region. 

Earlier this week, French President flew to Moscow, then to Kyiv Ukraine in a bid to act as a mediator after Russia massed troops near Ukraine.[1]  N

Democratic lawmakers on the House Committee on Financial Services on 27 January 2022 outlined nine (9) provisions of the proposed America COMPETES Act of 2022 one of which has been criticized by the cryptocurrency community for potential privacy and due process concerns.

Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., says the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength or COMPETES Act will "strengthen the competitiveness of the US economy and

The US government has urged organizations to shore up defenses "now" in response to website defacements and destructive malware targeting Ukraine government websites and IT systems this week.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a new 'CISA Insights' document aimed at all US organizations, not just critical infrastructure operators.  The checklist of actions is CISA's response to this week's cyberattacks on Ukraine's systems and websites, which the country

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on 20 January 2022, to strengthen its Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards by requiring internal network security monitoring (INSM) for high and medium impact bulk electric system cyber systems.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposes to direct the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to develop and submit new or modified Reliability Standards to address a gap in the current standards.[1]

Activity Summary - Week Ending on 21 January 2022:

• Red Sky Alliance identified 34,423 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
• Microsoft IP hit again
• Analysts identified 4,093 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
• SysJoker Backdoor
• Konni Campaign
• Take Down of VPNLab.net
• Russia shuts down REvil, huh?
• Brookings Blog on Russia
• SilverTerrier sent to the Kennel
• China and the Olympics
• Up-Date on Ukraine Hit

Link to full report: IR-22-021-001_weekly021.pdf

In 2010, Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges were attacked and rendered useless through a computer virus that became known as Stuxnet.  It was the first case in which a hacker attack, coordinated by nations (presumably the US and Israel), hit a large military target in the “real world.”  A worldwide race to create or acquire cyber weapons was then just taking shape. 

Fast forward to last week (11 years later), Ukraine was hit by a massive cyber-attack that targeted government websites.  Posted

Activity Summary - Week Ending on 14 January 2022:

• Red Sky Alliance identified 24,345 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
• Microsoft IP’s in UK and N. Ireland hit
• Analysts identified 1,435 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
• Rook Ransomware
• More Log4j
• Ukraine Cyber Bust
• UK NHS
• Who’s Winning?
• Google Docs
• The Electric Grid’s Hot Wires
• BLM suing LAPD

Link to full report: IR-22-014-001_weekly014.pdf

The US and the UK have ‘quietly’ sent cyber warfare experts to Ukraine to help sabotage any cyber warfare threats like that in the 2015 Ukraine power grid hack when Russian hackers remotely took over a power company’s control center.  It was the first publicly international acknowledged attack using digital weaponry that attacked the Ukrainian power grid, causing power outages across the country.  In the hopes of protecting the Ukraine, as the US and allies speculate the next move of Russia, bot

Activity Summary - Week Ending on 12 November 2021:

• Red Sky Alliance identified 27,845 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
• Analysts identified 3,224 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
• Sality remains the top Malware Variant at 24,282 Observation
• Chaos Ransomware
• Fake Ecommerce and Black Friday
• Robinhood Hit (Again)
• CISA 22-01
• Ukraine & Gamaredon SSU Arrests
• Pakistan and Russia
• Cyber Attack US Federal Indictments
• FIN7 still Kicking Around

Link to full repo

Ukrainian authorities have detain a criminal gang who laundered funds for Russian hacking groups.  Ukraine’s national police detained suspects on 25 October 2021, for stealing funds from cryptocurrency wallets and laundering profits for cybercrime organizations.   

The arrests took place as part of a joint investigation with US authorities, the Ukrainian National Police (NPU) said in a press release.  An undisclosed number of suspects were detained following house searchers across the country.

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Law enforcement is on a roll.  Europol members recently arrested numerous people in connection with a US law enforcement sting; last week Mexico arrested hacktivist Commander X; and now police in Ukraine reported earlier this week they arrested members of a major ransomware gang.  The arrests mark the first time a law enforcement agency has announced a mass arrest of a prolific hacker group that had extorted Americans by either encrypting an organization's files or threatening to leak them to th